The Fourth Period: (youtube) David Pagnotta on the “Latest” on the New York Rangers. Peter Laviolette’s on the hot seat, and the roster-driven free fall.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Kate Pettersen: “Well, Dave, we’ve got to start with some action with the New York Rangers. They have lost six of their last seven. We have already seen them ship out (Jacob) Trouba and (Kaapo) Kakko. So what’s next?
Is Peter Laviolette‘s job on the line? Is another veteran, perhaps on their way out? What do we expect to see from them between now and the trade deadline?
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Pagnotta: “Well Kate, based on some of the reports over the last 48 hours, it sounds like more major changes are on the horizon for the New York Rangers. Now there’s, about a month ago, there was kind of a vote of confidence given to Peter Laviolette behind the bench because of the nature of their free fall, which was primarily roster-driven.
Because they continue to slide, that may be inevitable. And according to the New York Post, Larry Brooks suggesting that that’s likely an occurrence for this club, of one of the moves that they may make. But we’ve been hearing over the last few days, since the holiday freeze lifted, that the New York Rangers continue to explore the trade market and different types of moves that they could potentially make.
We’ve reported previously that K’Andre Miller‘s name is out there, and he’s a player that has generated interest. We know Reilly Smith is out there. We already know Chris Kreider is out there as well.
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An interesting name to look at is Mika Zibanejad. He has a full no-movement clause. He’s got five more years left on his contract at $8.5 million. Talking to now two people close to that organization, they believe that Mika would be willing to waive his no-movement clause for the right environment. I don’t think they’ve had formal discussions to this point regarding that, or I don’t think the Rangers have asked to this point where he would consider going. But it sounds like if the Rangers find the right deal, that, that would be a consideration for Mika Zibanejad to consider a move out of New York.